How far will
fans go to save a doomed TV show? Devotees
of the SciFi Channel's Farscape, which was canceled
in September, have pooled their money to buy a TV commercial pleading
for the show's resurrection.

The commercial
-- created and funded by fans -- is set to run in 24 major cities around
the United States next week including: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland,
Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Houston, Lexington, Los Angeles, Miami,
Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis,
Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa and Washington,
D.C. This revolutionary concept may well be the first of its kind in any
fandom and promises to reach millions of households across the US. Call
it "grassroots gone high tech."

The commercial
may run only once in some of the major markets, and often on an obscure
channel in the middle of the night. But that's fine, according to the
campaign's organizers, because they mostly want to attract media attention.

"The
goal of this project is to draw mainstream media attention to our cause,"
explains the campaign's
website.

Last week,
fans sent out dozens of press kits to TV stations and networks drawing
attention to the ad. It's still too early to tell if they were successful,
however. Organizers of the Save Farscape campaign couldn't be contacted
for comment. The
commercial pays homage to Apple's Switch ads. It features clips of Farscape
followers explaining why they love the show.

"Farscape
is one of TV's smartest, funniest and most consistently surprising shows,"
said fan Nathan Alderman. "It's got a great cast, equally strong
writers and it doesn't dumb anything down for its viewers. It's the main
reason I got cable in the first place."

Produced
by the Jim Henson Company, Farscape tells of an astronaut propelled to
the other side of the universe. Critics
have praised the show, now in its fourth and last season. TV Guide called
it "the best science-fiction series on TV."

Despite the
plaudits, SciFi canceled the show due to the high cost of production --
$1.4 million per show, according to estimates -- and lower ratings. The
show's audience has declined from 1.6 million viewers to 1.5 million,
according to a SciFi Channel FAQ. But
that hasn't deterred thousands of the show's fans, who have been campaigning
for it to be brought back since the news of its demise broke in September.

The TV spot
is the latest stunt in a long-running, Internet-centered campaign, which
has included sending letters, faxes and even empty snack food boxes to
producers and TV executives. The
Save Farscape campaign encourages fans to send flattened cracker boxes
with the note "Crackers DO Matter" (a reference to an episode
called "Crackers Don't Matter"). Campaign organizers also cling
to the hope that another network will pick up the show.

So far, however,
the fan support has not swayed SciFi to revive the show.

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